La. personal income growth middle of the pack

La. personal income growth middle of the pack

Earnings show rise in every state

Louisiana residents’ personal income grew at 1.1 percent during the third quarter, good for the 24th spot in the country, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Louisiana personal income rose to $189.4 billion from July 1 to Sept. 30, the report shows.

Louisiana residents’ personal income grew 1.1 percent in the third quarter, which was in line with nationwide personal income growth, according to bureau spokesman Thomas Dail. For Louisiana, this is an acceleration from the second quarter, when personal income grew 1 percent.

Transfer receipts, including government social benefits, were the fastest-growing component of personal income at 1.9 percent. Workplace earnings grew 0.8 percent, led by mining, which includes oil and natural gas extraction.

The bureau defines personal income as the income received by all persons from all sources.

The mining, construction and manufacturing sectors accounted for the bulk of Louisiana’s personal income gains, BEA figures show.

Gains in those sectors helped offset slight declines in health care and social assistance and arts, entertainment and recreation; and a bigger drop in government and government enterprises.

In Louisiana, federal workers’ earnings dropped $64.6 million in the third quarter to $2.81 billion.

Nationally, federal government workers’ earnings dropped by $5 billion, primarily as a result of furloughs for civilian workers at the U.S. Department of Defense.

Personal income also slowed nationally, from 1.2 percent in the second quarter to 1.1 percent in the third quarter, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The largest contribution to third-quarter earnings growth came from construction, up $7.6 billion; and finance and professional services, both up $7.4 billion.

Earnings were up in every state. Only the District of Columbia saw a decline, 0.3 percent.

Mississippi experienced the fastest growth rate at 1.9 percent. However, a little more than half of the total, or $1 billion, came from the settlement in a class-action lawsuit alleging racial discrimination by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in evaluating farm loan applicants.